Forward and reverse gearing for lawn mowers



Nov. 7, 1950 P. L. LOEWE ETAL FORWARD AND REVERSE GEARING FOR LAWN MOWERS Original Filed April 8, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 fin/67250213 f ezezz. lama? izayezzelfiqg/ce y W w m flzforfieys.

P. L. LOEWE El AL FORWARD AND REVERSE GEARING FOR LAWN MOWERS Nov. 7, 1950 3 sheets-sheet 2 Original Filed April 8, 1944 Nov. 7, 1950 P. L. LOEWE ETAL FORWARD AND REVERSE GEARING FOR LAWN MOWERS Original Filed April 8, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 yen/021s- Lil" l I I I l l I I il /i 1\%\ fifeizlloewe Patented Nov. 7, iiaft'iv'i'fj'ri *SU ED xifQSTMES. PATEN. EQFF a FORWARD AND REVERSE. Guanine. Fonz t LAWNMOWERS.

Peter L. Loewe and Eugene L. Boyce, Chicago, Ill., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Pioneer- Gen-E-Motor Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware H Original application Apr i1 8, 1944, Serial No. 530,102. Divided, and this application October 27,1944, Serial-No. 560,574

V. 1 3 Claims." (01. 747-355) Our invention relates to an improvement in is drawn or moved backwardly for example by the lawn mowers and driving means therefor-.-- One handle structure, of which I40 forms a part.

purpose is to provide an improved drive and The cutter assembly is a unit which may be clutch connection for power driven units includunitarily inserted in or removed from or adjusted ing lawn mowers. 5 inrelation to the above described chassis for Another purpose is to provide improved means example by rotating the knobs 82 to a release for sharpening the blades of a lawnmower rotary position. It may include any suitable end memcutter; I I bers 6i] adjustable along the edges of the slots 3 Other-purposes will appear from time to time of the side plates as for example by rotation of throughout the specification and claims. W the screw 83 extending into themember 85, se-

Ourinvention is illustrated more or'less diacured in relation to the side plates 60 and 'ac-- grammatically in the accompanying drawing tuated by the external knob 82. The screw! wherein structure may be held against endwise movement Figure 1 is a perspective view; by any suitable meanswhile'its rotation is per- Figure 2 is a vertical section, on an enlarged mitted.

V scale, in a'plane perpendicular to the axis of rota- Mounted for rotation between the end members tion of the cutter; 1 1 60 is the shaft 63Jwhich carries any suitable Figure 3 is a vertical section on a still larger spiders 64 to which are secured the cutter blades I scale-onthe line 3 3 of Figure l; 65. The shaft 63 also carriesa sprocket 66 by Figure 4 is a section on the line 4 -4 of Fig- 'which the' cutter may be rotated. The end ure3. a a r T members 60 also carry lugs 61 adapted to receive '-Like parts are indicated-by like characters any suitable adjusting screw and nut assembly throughout the specification anddrawings- V 68. 69 is a web which may be unitary with the The present application 'a" division of our end member 60 and the lug 6'! and which extends copending application Serial No. 530,102, filed in downwardly and is provided with an inwardly the United States Patent Office on April 8, 19%, extending boss receiving the pin H of the cutter now PatentNumber 2,378,488; barstructure generally indicated as 12. This Referring to the drawings, the lawn mower cutter bar structure has ears 13 which are norillustrated includesa chassis structure having a ,mally upwardly urged against the ends of thepair of side plates l. Each side plate has a rear- .30 adjusting screws 68 by any suitable means such wardly extending part '2 and provided with a as the coil spring 14, one end of which is anchored wideislotor cut away portion 3 having ar uer on the cutterbar and the other to the web 89.

walls, the walls or edges being upwardly and rear-' Thus the ear [3 will be suificiently urged against wardly inclined toward an inclined 'edge portion; the adjusting screws 68. The cutter bar proper 4 of the side plate. The side plates :have an 15 may be secured to the above mentioned strucupper generally horizontal edge portion 5. The ture as at 16 and may thereby be adjusted'into slotted portion of each plate may be outwardly proper relationship with the. path of movement masked by" any suitable outer element 6. The A of the cutting edges of the blades 65 during rotaupper edges of the side plates 1 are connected tion of the cutter.

by at p plate Whih serves s 'support' for Mounted on and supported on the transverse the motor, below'described, which operates' the top plate I0 is any suitable motor structure;g lawn mower. The plates I are further connected erally indicated at 90,'the details of which do not by a tubu ar Sleeve 0 St t S W ifi O O of themselves form part of the present invention. in Figure 2. Rotatably mounted withiiithe strut Any suitable fuel storage tank 9| may be em I4 i the wheel shaft or axle l6 which-may be pl'oyed. mounted in any suitable bearings. Wheels gen- 94 is a gear reduction box or housing which also erally indicated as 34 may be mounted in any may be recessed or cut away to receive it. 95 are suitable fashion on the axle l6. Details of [the any suitable spacing lugs of the motor structure wheel structure do not of themselves form part to which the box 94 may be secured; 96 is a of the present invention and are not illustrated. removable end closure for the box 94. 91 inch- The wheel assembly, however, may bedriven by cates the motor shaft which extends through an any suitable sprocket 43 from the drive structure aperture 98 in the side wall of the member 94; which willlater be described. Any suitable means The lugs may be connected with any suitable maybe employed for permitting the" wheels to web 99 to protect the shaft. The shaft 91 is rotate freely When the lawn mower as a whole shown in dotted lines in Figure 1 and in and View is keyed in relation to the intermediate gear IOI,

to constitute a cluster gear. In mesh with the reversibly driven gear I06 is the idler I08 on the stub shaft or pin I09 herein shown as mounted on the side plate 96.

When a reversal of the direction of drive 'is de y sired, it may be obtained by shifting the yoke I031 The yoke I03 is shown in Figure 3 as having an extension II, apertured as at III, to receive an adjusting pin H2, having an external manually operable knurled head H3 and an inner portion H4 in screw threaded relationship with the boss H5 of the member 90. H6 is a limit stop formed in the wall 94 and H7 an opposite limit stop. The; member H2 carries actuating collars H8, H9 secured thereto. It'will be understood that when the parts are in the full line position in which they are shown in Figure 3, the idler is out of the line of drive. If the user rotates the head H3 sufficiently to move the parts to the dotted line'position with the end of the yoke I33 against the stop III, the reversing gear I05 is first disengaged from the gear I06 and is later engaged with the idler I08, which is thereby added to the line of drive. The result is a reversal in the di-. rection of rotation of the driven shaft It'll.

.Thus, when the user wishes to sharpen the blades, he may do so by reversing the cutter drive, thereby moving the cutter blades in retrograde across the cutter bar I5.- The cutterbar may be treated with or may receive any suitable abrasive and may be adjusted into the proper position to abrade or grind the cutting edges of the blades It will be clear, from Figure 2, that the drivingsprocket I22 on the driven shaft I0? is ef festive, through the chain I25 and the sprocket 65', to drive the rotary cutter; Any suitable chain-tensioning means may be employed such as the link I23 pivoted as at I29 and having at its free end, an idler sprocket I21. The link I28 and-thesprocket I21 may yieldingly urge toward the chain I26 by the spring I30. The chain I35, passing about the sprocket 43 is effective to drive the wheel assembly.

,lt will-be realized that whereas we have shown andj-describled an operative device, still many' changes mightbe made in the size, shape, num

abroad sense diagrammaticand illustrative, rather than limiting us to our precise showing.

a'lhe use and. operation of theinvention'are asfOllOWS-I I-t is;extrjemely desirable to provide in connection with lawn mowers, means for sharpening the blades without dismantling or altering the lawn mower. It has been customary in the past, either to take the lawn mower to a shop or else to alter or interrupt the drive of the cutter in order to permit. sharpening at the place of use.

.A purpose of our invention is to provide driving means which includes reversing means adapted for easy operation. For example, if the user of the lawn mower wishes to sharpen the blades, he preferably first stops the engine and then moves the lever I03, by rotation of the knob H3, to interpose the idler I8 in the line of drive,

4 which reverses the direction of rotation of the driven shaft I01. This reversal is obtained by moving the pinion I05 out of engagement with the gear I6 and into engagement with the idler I8. No change of the normal line of drive is involved and the only movement necessary, that of the pinion I05 and its goose-necked lever I03, is obtained by a readily actuated manual member. We illustrate, for example, the screw I I4 with its associated collar structure H8, H9, the screw being actuated by the externa1 handle H3. It will be'understood, of course that any other suitable actuating means may be employed. It is convenient in use, however, to have a control assembly which includes an external portion which can be readily operated and which may, for example, be operated by hand, and without the necessity of altering or adjusting or adding or subtracting any part of the transmission beyond moving the lever I03 to include the idler I08 in he ine o d ve, x

We a m:

1. A reversible drive for lawn mowers and the like, including a motor, a unidirectional motor driven gear, a reversibly driven gear, intermediate gears rotatable in unison about a common movable axis, an idler gear rotatable about a fixed axis and constantly in mesh with the reversibly driven gear, one of saidintermediate gears being in constant mesh with said motor driven gear, and another of said intermediate gears constittltlng a reversing gear rotatable about said movable axis and constituting an element in the line of drive between said motor driven gear and said reversibly driven gear, means for normally holding the reversing gear. in mesh with the reversibly driven gear, and for selectively moving it bodily in its own plane of rotation out of mesh with said reversibly drivengear and into mesh with said idler gear, including readily manually operable actuating means for moving said reversinggear through its range of possible movement.

2. Ina reversible drive for motor, driven lawn mowers andtheZ-like, a unidirectional motor driven gear and a reversibly driven gear, both said gears being rotatable about fixed axes, and a driving connection between said fixed axis gears including an idler gear rotatable about-a fixed axis,'in mesh with one of them, and a plurality of intermediate gears rotatable inunison about a common movable taxis, one of said intermediate gearsgbeing in constant mesh with said; motor driven :gear and another of said intermediate gearsnbein movable selectively into mesh with thelidler; gear, or with the reversibly driven gear which is constantly in mesh with the idler gear.

33. In a reversible, drive for motor driven lawn mowers and the like, a gear box, a unidirectional motor driven shaft, rotatable about a fixed axis, extending into said gear box, a reversibly driven reel driving shaft, rotatable about a fixed axis,

extending ;,into said gear box, a gear mounted oneach said shaft for rotation about a fixed axis, an-idlermounted for rotation about a fixed axis,

and in mesh with one of said gears: said idler being mounted on a bearing extendin inwardly from a wall-of said gear box, a movably mounted arm in'said gear box, means for moving said arm through a predetermined path, including a manually ,engageable element extending exteriorally of said gearbox, and a plurality of intermediate gears mounted for rotation in unison on said arm, one of said gears being in constant mesh with one of the gears rotatable about a fixed axi and the other being movable selectively REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,047,579 Seelig Dec. 17, 1912 1,185,717 Roberts June 6, 1916 Number Number Name Date Johnson Oct. 10, 1916 Ott Aug. 13, 1929 Carlson Nov. 5, 1929 Reynolds July 7, 1936 Gebert Aug. 1, 1939 Johnson Oct. 15, 1940 Peterson Nov. 5, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Switzerland Feb. 16, 1944 Germany Feb. 10, 1926 

